Automobile signal



T. GROVES AUTOMOBILE SIGNAL Aug. 21

Filed Aug. 13 1919 Patented Aug; 2 1 i923.

7 tralsection of the mittmag/concerne- Be it known that I, Trrot As Gnovns, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of St. Louis and State" of lilissouri, have invented new'and useful Improvements in Automobile Signals, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention pertains to automobile signals, and the prime object of the invention is to produce a simple and practical device for this purpose, the workingparts whereof are operable preferably by electricity, and which may be readily attached to, or adjusted upon the front or rear portions of an automobile, and so that the indicating meme her thereof may be readily controlled by the hand of the operator, for the purpose of indicating to pedestrians and others the direction that the vehicle is to pursue.

A further'object is to provide ao s'imple and eflicient electrical meansfor operating the working elements of the, device, including the signaling semaphore.

Afurther object is to produce a practical device for the purpose intended to meet the requirements of a commercial article of this kind, 7 1 lVith these and other objects in view, attention is called to the accompanying draw ings, wherein Fig. 1 shows a longitudinal elevation of the devicexdetached from the vehicle, a cencasingbeing broken away to revealthe inner parts;

Fig. 2, a top plan viewof the device;

Fig. 3, a diagrammatic view showing the lav out of the-several workin elements of the device; V i r Fig. 4, a plan .view showing the arrangement of the electromagnets and armature. Referring more particularly to'the drawings, my invention consists of a combination of a suitable, switch or control bozcmounted uponthe dash or instrument board of the automobile, and which carries suitable electrically operated control elements for the manipulation of the-signal per se, the subpr-esent application. This ject of this switch box is not indlcated in the drawings 7 for the reason thatit will be made the sub- Y QCi, of a separate application for patent.

In carrying out the present invention, a boxer casing 3 is mounted either at the front or rear of the machine, or both at the. front and at the rear. 7 Through the casing a lication filed August 13, 1319.

\ star I rnonas s mester-Se. lldiirsriaissonnr,

eroines-Inn SIGNAL.

Serial No 3, at the points naled vthe shaft 9. At

shaft9 emerge casing 3, 9, which shaft the top 12 of the casin his,

. 317,321. g 10. andt ll, is vertically jourthe point where the s through the top 12 of the a sleeve 13 freely encloses the shaft extends upwardly through The semaphore l t-15 as a n hole repre sents an arrow rigidly and he rear end directly It is made up of two secwhich is rlzontally mounted from its to the upper end of the.

shaft 9 and rotates therewith, and the tail section.

section 14, the

15 mounted in alignment with the lower edge being bracketed from the sleeve 13 by means of the rigidly attached bracket- 16, and the upper edge being pivoted in shaft 9 by me bracket 17,

vertical alignment with the ans of the rigidly attached having pivotal ncction at 18 with the upper edge of the forward section 14. Thus the two sect ons 14 and 15, whlle pivoted in alignment one to the other, may

be 'rotated or oscillated sidewise independently of one another. An upper retractile coil spring 24 connects the sleeve 13 with tween the points-20 and the wall of the casing 3 be-' 21, while a similar spring 19 connects the shaft 9 with the wall of the casing b Theactlon of etween the points 22 and 28. these springs is normally to hold the semaphore let-15 in a straightaway forward position, and so that the magnet 8 would stand transversely positioned between the magnets 6 and 7.

The sleeve 13 is adapted to be locked in relation to the naryclutch m sliding clutch 25 mounted immediately be ing upper clutch teeth 26 shaft 9 by means of an ordiechanism, consisting of the upon the shaft 9 low the sleeve 13, same havadapted to engage the complementary clutch teeth 27 at the lower end guards the clutch 25 of the sleeve 13. A. key 28 against rotating on the shaft 9, While the same is adapted for longitudinal movement thereupon. The clutch 25 has an annular guide-way to receive the prongs 30 of the 31. .The clutcl casing at the point 32.

29 adapted clutch lever is pivoted to the The outer end 33 1 lever 31 of the clutch'lever 31 extends over the upper end of the electro clutch magnet 34-, the said end 33' acting as, an armature 1n relation to said magnet 34. Thus as 33 is oscillated the end thru the action of said electro' clutch magnet 34, the clutch 25 is thrown into or out of engagement with the sleeve 13,-thusloekihg the sleeve relative to the shaft V a suitable electro magnetica1ly oper- Any ated mechanism may be mounted within the casing 3 to controlthe signal elements, and

wlring extended, of course, to a battery and to the control box on the dash to actuate-the electro-magnetic apparatus.

The semaphore as a whole normally p'oints'straight ahead, and four signals are indicated by this device; a turn to the right by turning the arrow-head to the right; a" turn to the left, byvturningthe arraw-head to the left; a stop signal by turning the semaphore to point to the right; and a back up signal by turning the entire semaphore to point to the left.

While I have hereindescribed a certai specific manner and method of constructing and assembling the elements of my invena tion, it is understood that I may vary from the same in' minor. details, not departing from the spirit of my invention, so as best to construct a practical device for the purpose intended, asdefined in the appended claims.

a What I claim to be new and patentable is:

I '1. In an automobile signal, a casing to I carry the signal elements; a shaft journaled vertically through the center of the casing and extended upwardly; a sleeve journaled in the top of the casing around the base of the shaft; an arrow head horizontally joined to 'thelendtof the an arrow tail similarly joined ta the sleeve;- and springs for normally holding the-{arrow headland tail in alignment.

2. In'an automobile,signah 'a casing; a: 1 shaft -journaled jvertically throu-gh rlthe cen- 'terof the casing and extended upwardly; [sleeve journaled in the topfo'tthe casing around the lower part" or the protruding shaft; an arrow head horizontally joinedto the'protruding end of the shaft; an arrow tail' similarly 'j'olned'to the sleeve;'springs for normally holding the head and tail in alignment; and meansi or rotating the head and tail independently, or in unison, as de sired. V i t 3. In an automoblle s1gnal,1a casing; a

V shaft journaled vertically through thercenter 'ofthecasing and extendedupwardl y;

a sleeve journaled in the top of the casing around the lower part of the protruding shaft; an arrow head horizontally joined ,to the protruding end of the shaft; an arrow 1 tail similarly joined to the sleeve; springs 

